the right time
to be on the water
Choose the place and the species. The index, from 0 to 100, combines weather, sun, moon and tide with each fish's habits. Up to 28 days, with each day's confidence.
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hour by hour
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why this index at —?
choose the day
the fishing month at a glance
what's the best window for the crew?
Choose how many fishing days. We compare each stretch by its average index, discount days with a warning or closed season, and show the 3 best.
trend for the coming weeks
Line: the middle value of 31 simulations of the American GEFS model. Band: where 8 out of 10 fall. Narrow, firm trend; wide, high uncertainty.
everything about the yellowfin tuna
how to recognize it
Torpedo-shaped body, metallic dark-blue back and golden stripe along the flank. Second dorsal, anal fin, and finlets bright yellow; in large adults, the second dorsal and anal fins are long and sickle-shaped. Silver belly with vertical rows of pale dots. Skipjack tuna has dark horizontal stripes on the belly. Spotted bonito has wavy patterns on the back and black spots below the pectoral. Bigeye tuna has a larger eye and a deeper body.
Also called: albacora-laje, albacora-de-laje, atum-de-barbatana-amarela, yellowfin
don't confuse with:
where found
open on the large mapWhere to look: Warm layer from 0 to 250 m over the slope, seamounts, oil platforms, and current edges. Associated with floating objects, dolphins, and skipjack schools.
Open sea along the whole coast, most abundant at the shelf edge and on the slope, from the Northeast to the South. Known grounds: oil platforms of the Campos Basin (departures from Macaé-RJ) and the Santos Basin; shelf edge off Vitória-ES; Cabo Frio-RJ; Natal-RN; Fernando de Noronha-PE, outside the Parque Nacional Marinho; São Pedro e São Paulo archipelago, restricted access.
coast
states
Amapá, Pará, Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe, Bahia, Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul
when to fish
best season
Can be fished all year. In the Southeast the best period runs from October to May, when warm water reaches the shelf. In the Northeast fishing is good all year, with local variations.
best time of day
Daytime, with peaks at dawn and dusk. Feeds hard at dawn and in late afternoon, when it comes up to the surface. At midday it goes down, and jigging yields more. At the platforms, lights concentrate bait and tuna at night.
what affects the yellowfin tuna
cold and cold fronts
It tolerates somewhat colder water at depth, but at the surface it disappears below 20 °C.
atmospheric pressure
A cold front hurts more through the sea than through the fish; return when the sea settles.
moon
At full moon tuna feed more at night around the platforms and become more selective by day.
rain
Light rain doesn't bother and sometimes brings the school up. Thunderstorm with lightning: head back.
water level
Not applicable at sea. The equivalent is the color and clarity of the water: look for blue, clean water and current lines.
noise
A school at the surface sinks with a loud motor and the boat passing over it. Approach from the front of the school and slow down.
wind
Moderate light swell is good for popping. Wind above 20 knots makes going out unfeasible.
tide
Little effect; at the platforms the current determines which side the fish sit on.
depth
From the surface down to 250 m. At midday look for the layer with bait on the sonar, usually between 30 and 100 m.
how to fish
lures
- 18 to 25 cm poppers and stickbaits (120 to 200 g)
- 150 to 300 g jigs
- lipped trolling plugs
- silicone squid and skirts
natural baits
- live or cut sardine for chum
- lula
- cut bonito (chunking)
tip from an angler
At platforms, respect the 500 m safety zone and fish drifting outside it, watching for birds and fish at the surface. Work the jig fast in the layer the sonar shows.
- rod
- popping 7'6" to 8'0" PE 6 to 8; jigging PE 3 to 5 (up to 300 g); trolling 30 to 50 lb
- spinning / baitcasting reel
- 14000 to 20000 spinning reel for popping; 8000 to 14000 spinning reel or jigging baitcaster for jigging; 30 to 50 lb trolling baitcaster
- line
- braided PE 5 to 8 (65 to 100 lb) for popping; PE 3 to 5 for jigging
- leader
- fluorocarbon or monofilament 80 to 130 lb, 2 to 3 m
- hook
- 7/0 to 9/0 assist hooks on jigs; treble or reinforced single hooks on poppers; 7/0 to 10/0 circle hook on natural bait
accessories
- fighting belt
- luvas
- bicheiro
- split-ring pliers and cutting pliers
catch and release
Tuna loses a lot of stamina in the fight. If you are going to release it, keep the fight short, don't lift it out of the water, and release it with the boat moving, head first, so water flows over the gills.
rules for the yellowfin tuna
Rules change; before keeping or transporting fish, check with the state environmental agency.
We found no species-specific rule beyond the region's general rules.
Conservation: Atlantic stock managed by ICCAT, with a total catch limit. We have not found a federal minimum size for recreational fishing.
how much it weighs without taking it out of the water
estimated weight
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how we calculate
Length-weight relationship W = a·Lb (a = 0.01413, b = 3.03; FishBase (estimativa bayesiana, comprimento total)). It's an average: a fat or lean fish can vary by 10% to 20%.
more about the yellowfin tuna
The yellowfin tuna is an open-sea tuna that can exceed 150 kg, but in Brazilian sport fishing, fish of 15 to 60 kg are the most common. It travels in schools, often with skipjack tuna and dolphins, and rises to the surface to hunt sardines, flying fish, and squid. In the Southeast, the oil platforms of the Campos and Santos basins have become a classic jigging and popping ground; in the Northeast, Natal, Fernando de Noronha, and the São Pedro e São Paulo archipelago hold large fish. The fight is one of endurance: the tuna dives for the bottom and circles below the boat. It is also an important target of commercial longline and line fishing.
Family: Scombridae · predator
fun facts
- Schools often travel with dolphins, which helps locate the fish.
- The sickle-shaped yellow fins grow with age and mark the large specimens.
- It keeps its body warmer than the water thanks to a network of vessels that retains muscle heat.
in the kitchen
Excellent red meat. Bleed it right away, gut it, and chill it in ice water. Sashimi, tataki, or grilled rare.
similar species
sources and references (7)
The season weights (months), the time of day and the sensitivities (cold, pressure, moon, wind, rain, tide, strong light, murky water and noise) are the app's editorial estimates, based on the literature below and on the field experience of anglers and guides. They are not official data nor a measurement made for this species, and they may vary by region and year. Closed seasons and legal rules appear in the rules section, with the norm and a link.
- scientific FishBase — Thunnus albacares (ficha da espécie)Names, distribution, biology, length-weight relationship and references. Page checked on October 13, 2026.
- official Portaria GM/MMA nº 1.667, de 27 de abril de 2026 — Lista Nacional Oficial de Espécies da Fauna Ameaçadas de Extinção (peixes e invertebrados aquáticos)Most recent national list. The species is not on it (search by scientific name in the text published in the DOU, checked on October 13, 2026).
- official ICMBio/SALVE — Ficha de Thunnus albacares (avaliação nacional do risco de extinção)ICMBio national assessment, published in 2026. DOI checked on Crossref.
- scientific IUCN Red List — Thunnus albacares (avaliação global: Pouco Preocupante, LC, 15/01/2021)Global assessment. Link given on the FishBase entry (Red List, version 2025-2).
- scientific Collette, B. B.; Nauen, C. E. (1983). FAO species catalogue. Vol. 2. Scombrids of the world. FAO Fisheries Synopsis 125(2). Roma: FAO.
- technical ICCAT Manual, cap. 2.1.1 — Yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares). International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas.Biology and fishery of the species in the Atlantic.
- scientific Carpenter, K. E. (org.) (2002). The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Vol. 3: Bony fishes part 2 (Opistognathidae to Molidae). FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes. Roma: FAO.Scombridae chapter (Collette, B. B.).
how we calculatewhere each number comes from
The weather comes from three independent global models, cross-checked hour by hour: when they agree, confidence goes up; when they diverge, the band between them shows on the chart. Beyond 16 days, we use the GEFS ensemble of 31 simulations: if 20 of the 31 predict rain, the chance of rain is 65%. Sun and moon are calculated astronomically, with no uncertainty.
The index adds up, weighted for each species: time of day (species curve anchored to real sunrise and sunset), moon (transits, rise and set, phase), pressure (3 h trend and 24 h swing), water temperature (in rivers, estimated from air temperature; at sea, estimated by an ocean model), wind, rain, clouds, tide and the month in the species' cycle.
sources for this lookup
how accurate the forecast is
Accuracy measured in the reference project (4 regions, 93 days, forecast vs. observed): maximum temperature is off by 0.6 °C on average the next day and 1.7 °C at 7 days; rain of 5 mm or more is detected 76% of the time the next day and 57% at 7 days. Detection isn't everything: the false alarm rate isn't published here yet, and 93 days in 4 regions is still a small sample. We now also measure every day, at the app's destinations: